UzhNU told about the international project Skills2Scale
On Monday, 17 July, a press conference was held at the UzhNU administration to present the international research project "Expanding High-Tech Opportunities for Higher Education Institutions" (Skills2Scale). The project was presented by the Rector of UzhNU Volodymyr Smolanka, the chief project manager, Vice-Rector for Research Ivan Myroniuk, and the project coordinator, Head of the Department of Clinical and Laboratory Diagnostics and Pharmacology Nadiia Boyko.
The idea of Skills2Scale is to promote the development of a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in higher education institutions (partner institutions), as well as to develop strong partnerships with external stakeholders in the field of Beyond 5G technologies, government organisations and academia, to develop and implement advanced innovative and entrepreneurial educational programmes that will provide students with the opportunity to develop and launch their own startups in the Beyond 5G technology space.
"Skills2Scale is a project designed to enable higher education institutions to play a leading role in the development and implementation of Beyond 5G networks and applications. Through a range of activities, such as training programmes, peer-to-peer learning events, mentoring and acceleration, the project aims to provide HEIs with the knowledge, skills and networks needed to support the development of the Beyond 5G ecosystem. The project aims to foster institutional engagement and change, strengthen partnerships, promote innovation and business development, improve the quality of innovation and entrepreneurship education, and support knowledge exchange. It is important that our employees will be involved in the implementation of the latest technologies in this project," said Rector Volodymyr Smolanka.
The project is implemented by the following structural units of Uzhhorod National University: Faculty of Information Technology, Faculty of Dentistry, Faculty of Biology, Faculty of Physics, Educational and Research Institute of Chemistry and Ecology, UzhNU Startup Centre and Research Unit. Every year, the UzhNU Startup Centre and the Research Department organise and conduct the Startup-UzhNU Competition of Innovative Ideas for students, postgraduates and young scientists.
"Both teachers and students from these structural units are involved in our project. After all, it is in these departments that the training components and programmes for the preparation of innovations in the 5G system will be implemented. Cooperation with business and government agencies within the project is also very important," said Ivan Myroniuk, Vice-Rector for Research at UzhNU..
As part of the project, it is planned to cooperate with external stakeholders in the field of Beyond 5G technologies, government organisations, enterprises and research institutions. In particular, with representatives of the Transcarpathian Regional Military Administration, Uzhhorod City Administration, the Transcarpathian Regional Development Agency, Uzhhorod Industrial Park, representatives of Jabil and Yazaki plants, national mobile operators Vodafone, Kyivstar and Ukrtelecom, UzhNET, representatives of Tolk Zakarpattya Energy Supply, the Institute of Electronic Physics and the Pidhornyi Institute of Mechanical Engineering Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
"When we talk about our tasks, they are unique. I believe we are in an ideal place for 5G implementation. We already have a large database of 75 partners from our region who are ready to cooperate with us. The project has strong international partners: Polytechnic University of Valencia, Technical University of Liberec, Uzhhorod National University, Lapland University, Hellenic Entrepreneurship Award, Demokritos National Centre for Scientific Research, Fogus Innovations & Services P.C. and two associate partners: The Fund for Regional Development of Central Macedonia and the Catholic University of Portugal," said project coordinator, Head of the Department of Clinical and Laboratory Diagnostics and Pharmacology Nadiia Boiko.
Within the framework of the project, the first meeting of participants took place in Valencia (June 2023), the second is scheduled for Rovaniemi (November 2023), the third in Liberec (2024), and the fourth in Athens (2024). Each meeting will last for 2 days, will be organised by the host higher education institutions and will include training workshops, capacity building activities and study visits to local ecosystems to facilitate knowledge exchange between partners. The total duration of the project is 15 months, until July 2024.
